Mrs. Sturm, Colleen Sturm & Victoria Sturm
Suzanne Sturm, a math teacher at Waterford High School since 2015, currently has two students: senior Victoria Sturm and junior Colleen Sturm.
Having her children in the same school as her is fun! She loves having them in the school. Logistically, school and transportation are easy because she knows when to get to school, so all three can be on time.
She would rather have another teacher teach her kids. One reason is that the other students in the class would think there would be favoritism. It is also a benefit for her kids. They get the “high school experience” instead of having their mom teach them.
It was different teaching at another school than her children in her first year of teaching at the Interdistrict School for Arts & Communication (ISSAC) in New London, Connecticut. If ISSAC had a delay or vice versa, it was an issue for transportation.
Mrs. Sturm is more involved with her children’s academics because any teacher knows where she is at all times, so any of them can come and conference with her. Also, if her kids are sick, she can keep them caught up.
When Mrs. Sturm was younger, her mom taught at Montville High School, and if Mrs. Sturm had gone to Montville, she could’ve gotten her as an English teacher. Instead, she went to Saint Bernard’s like the rest of her siblings. She said she would not have wanted to have her parents as teachers in her school when she was younger.
One thing that Mrs. Sturm likes about teaching in the same school as her kids is that when they graduate, Mrs. Sturm can give them their diplomas at graduation.
Colleen Sturm, her junior daughter, says she likes having her mom teach at the school. She states, “If I ever need something during school, I can usually get it from her.”
Throughout the day she does not notice her much because she does not have any classes with her.
She says there are many perks to having her parent in school, like, “On B days I have a different lunch than all of my friends, but I can just eat with her. Also, I haven’t had to take the bus since I started high school.”
Since she plays sports throughout the year, she can just put her sports equipment in her mom's class
She says, “My parents have always been pretty involved in my academics, but teaching at the school makes her a little more involved.”
Victoria Sturm, her senior daughter, also likes having her mom as a teacher in this school. “It was very convenient during my freshman and sophomore years not to have to take the bus and hitch a ride to school each morning. No bus rides, no waking up extra early, and yes, heated seats on the way to school. Highly recommend—10/10 experience.”
She explains how it is a different experience than not having a parent in the same school as you… she can visit her during classes… “If I don’t spot her in the hallway, she’ll 100% get a text asking where she is. It does sometimes make me late to class (sorry Mr. Fomenko), but I will not stop and have a quick chat with my mom.”
She says her mom, “is 100% the reason I passed a test or two this year. She is so selfless and supportive that it’s hard to imagine getting through some days without her.”
During the summer before her sophomore year, she got homeschooled in Algebra II. “It allowed me to take only one math class per year and get through all of the APs provided.”
